psp-guidance-for-schools-sept-em-psp-4a

Although schools are not required by the DfE to use Pastoral Support Plans PSP Gloucestershire Local Authority acknowledges that the PSP procedure and process can be used where a school

PASTORAL SUPPORT PLANS

Guidance for schools in

Gloucestershire Updated September 2017

Although schools are not required by the DfE to use Pastoral Support Plans (PSP)

Gloucestershire Local Authority acknowledges that the PSP procedure and process can

be used where a school identifies that it will bring another element to supporting a pupil which has not already been included as part of the pupil’s My Plan / My Plan+

The purpose of a Pastoral Support Plan

The PSP procedure and process is designed to support any pupil for whom the normal school based strategies have not been effective It is a structured, coordinated, 16 week school intervention designed to support pupils at risk of permanent exclusion It is not intended to be a step in the process of permanent exclusion

A representative from Gloucestershire Local Authority no longer routinely attends PSP meetings but the headteacher or PSP coordinator can contact one of the Local Authority Inclusion Advisers for advice about alternative interventions as well as the timing of a PSP

Who is a Pastoral Support Plan for?

A Pastoral Support Plan is for pupils who are not responding to the normal behaviour strategies, who may be disaffected and who are at risk of permanent exclusion

This may include pupils who:

 Have had a number of fixed period exclusions (2 or 3 in one term may be a trigger)

 Have low attendance which is impacting on their behaviour

 Are showing signs of rapid deterioration in their behaviour

 Are at risk of failure at school through disaffection

 Are supported through a My Plan/My Plan +

There are many indicators of disaffection in school; these can range from disruptive

behaviour to unauthorised absence and prolonged truancy

Pupils who are at particular risk include:

 Young carers

 Pregnant schoolgirls/teenage mothers

 Travellers

 Refugees

 Pupils with chronic health problems

 Pupils in families under stress e.g bereavement, parent in prison

 Pupils in transition from one phase of their education to another with special

educational needs (SEND)

 Pupils with unidentified SEND

 Looked After Children (Children in Care CiC)

 Pupils from minority ethnic groups

 Young offenders

What should be put in place before a PSP?

Before a PSP is started a graduated response to pupil’s behaviour should be used i.e My Plan / My Plan+

This may include school based support and/or a range of other agencies such as:

 Mentoring support

 Head of Year/House/Faculty support

 Teaching Assistant (TA) support

 Extra tuition/support around trigger subjects

 Mediation where particular subjects/teachers are an issue

 Referral to Education Psychology Service

 Advisory Teaching Service

 Initial Team Around the Pupil (TAC) meetings

 Alternative Provision Schools

 Special School Outreach Service

 Services listed on Gloucestershire Local Offer

 Early Help Partnership (multi agency partnership for pupils aged 0 -25)

 Families First Plus

 CYPS

 Youth Support Service

This list is not exhaustive

The PSP, SEND and early intervention

A PSP is never an early or first response to a pupil failing at school because of their behaviour It is most likely to succeed when is used as part of a measured response in supporting a pupil’s emotional, social and behavioural needs in school

SEN pupils should have a My Plan / My Plan+ or equivalent in place which sets out both their needs and the specific strategies to support them In exceptional circumstances, a crisis may precipitate unexpected and challenging behaviour In such cases a PSP may supersede other support plans such as a My Plan

Schools should assess whether presenting behavioural difficulties are due to an

unidentified special educational need:

“Persistent disruptive or withdrawn behaviours do not necessarily mean that a pupil or

young person has SEN Where there are concerns, there should be an assessment to determine whether there are any causal factors such as undiagnosed learning difficulties, difficulties with communication or mental health issues If it is thought housing, family or other domestic circumstances may be contributing to the presenting behaviour a multi- agency approach, supported by the use of approaches such as the Early Help

Assessment, may be appropriate In all cases, early identification and intervention can significantly reduce the use of more costly intervention at a later stage.”

SEND Code of Practice Paragraph 6:21 January 2015

Once the school has decided that a PSP is appropriate the PSP coordinator needs to set

up the initial the meeting with parents/carers and appropriate outside agencies

At this stage, the coordinator should ensure that the parents/carers and the pupil

understand the nature of the process before the initial meeting

Appendix A - PSP Information for parents and carers

Setting up a meeting

The PSP meeting should preferably be held at the school within the school day or just after however flexible meeting times should be offered where possible for parents/carers that are unable to attend in this time frame

The following people should be invited to the PSP meeting by the school:

 the parents/carers of the pupil

 the pupil

 any professionals working with the pupil e.g Learning Mentor

 member of staff with whom the pupil has a good rapport (optional)

A comfortable room should be made available There should be a table and enough

chairs for all attending You may also wish to provide pens/paper and water

It is not always productive to invite all staff/professionals who support the pupil to the meeting and schools should decide which staff/professionals are essential to the process

Gathering information

Before the PSP meeting the coordinator will need to collate information which will be used to inform the PSP This will include:

The staff questionnaire

 It will not be possible or appropriate to have all staff involved with a pupil at school present at a PSP meeting It will be useful to have the views of most of those

people included

Appendix B – PSP Prior to initial meeting

The pupil questionnaire

 While it is expected that that pupil should attend some if not all of the PSP meeting and be encouraged to express views freely and honestly, it may be difficult to ascertain their views during the PSP meeting

 An adult who has a good rapport with the pupil should find out what the pupil

thinks about the current situation

 It may be useful to have the parent or another adult not employed by the school to help the pupil complete the questionnaire

Evidence from previous interventions and assessments

For example:

 Copies of support plans e.g My Plan / My Plan+

 Behaviour logs and consequences

 Behaviour analysis

 Evaluations of any strategies suggested by EPS, APS and other agencies

 Attendance records and support

 Goals of behaviour checklist and Behaviour checklist summary

(The PSP will only make a difference if it can add something more or new to

current provision The detail requested on the behaviour checklist along with the information collated from each relevant staff member about the pupil’s effort / attainment / attitude will provide those present at the PSP meeting with a way of planning strategies to meet particular pupil needs.)

Appendix D - Goals of behaviour checklist

Appendix E - Behaviour checklist summary

Early Help means that some or many other agencies are already involved in supporting the family The PSP coordinator will need to contact any agency to ask for a commitment

to providing ADDITIONAL or NEW support for the family during the period of the PSP as

appropriate The specific support can be agreed either in advance of or during the PSP meeting

The initial PSP meeting

The initial PSP meeting should address positive points as well as the main concerns Everyone present will have to be given the opportunity to speak and will be expected to offer some contribution to the plan to resolve the difficulties

While school staff will have previously used a range of interventions as part of the pupil’s support plan My Plan / My Plan+, school representatives at the meeting will need to be prepared to make additional commitments as part of the PSP

Central to the PSP is support therefore it is important that the pupil’s behaviour targets are closely linked to the behaviours causing concern The behaviour targets are agreed and set by the adults at the initial meeting

PSP targets for a pupil may centre on: (this list is not exhaustive)

 being punctual and being prepared for lessons

 collecting their report card and get it signed each day

 following the school behaviour policy

 allowing teachers to teach and other pupils to learn in lessons

 showing politeness and being respectful to all students

 not disturbing lessons

 participating in all lessons

 following adult instructions

 showing respect for others/property

 speaking politely to staff

 responding positively to reminders or warnings about behaviour

 completing all work set

The school will also make commitments to the PSP for example:

 Make changes to learning environment and unstructured times

 Review the deployment of additional adults (1:1 or group work)

 Review the differentiation of curriculum

 Adapt teaching to suit learning style and needs

 Check that the behaviour policy consistently applied

 Review the current behaviour management strategies

 Consult with colleagues in relevant department, key stage, pastoral team, SENCO

 Additional staff training

 Liaison with outside agencies

 Withdrawal from agreed lessons

 A flexible curriculum/an individualised timetable

 Adapted/increased use of ICT to support learning

 Undertake a risk assessment which includes preventative, proactive as well as reactive measures

 Temporary placement at in-school unit or APS

 Mentoring and/or counselling

 Additional careers advice

At the end of the meeting everyone will need to be clear about:

a) what is to be done

b) by whom

c) by when

A date for a meeting to review the PSP will be set

Advice on pupils attending the PSP meetings

As a guide:

 A pupil at secondary school will attend the whole meeting

 A pupil in junior years will join the meeting after the adults have agreed the main elements of the support plan

 It may not be appropriate for a pupil in Infant years to come to a PSP meeting at all The pupil’s parents /carers and/or class teacher should talk to the pupil after the meeting

In some cases, the pupil will be too upset, anxious or disengaged to agree any

commitments This is normal and should not prevent the PSP going ahead parents/carers are central to the process and need to be present at meetings and willing to make a commitment to the PSP

After the initial PSP meeting and each review meeting the PSP coordinator will need to make sure all relevant staff who did not attend the meeting, know about the

commitments

Appendix F - PSP Initial meeting

A PSP normally runs for sixteen school weeks to ensure the pupil has the opportunity to demonstrate improvement A formal review is held at around eight weeks In exceptional circumstances, the plan can be extended for a further four to eight weeks Such

circumstances involve events beyond the control of the pupil that may reduce their

chances of meeting the targets set for them for example a family bereavement or a major change in family or school circumstances

Appendix G - PSP meeting feedback

Monitoring

A member of school staff should meet the pupil regularly to review their progress towards their PSP targets This will give the pupil the chance to identify what has gone well and how to replicate success

The key people who attended the original PSP meeting will be invited to the 8 week review and to the 16 week review to determine progress

The 8 week review

All of the commitments which were agreed at the initial meeting will be reviewed

School staff should share reports about the pupil’s progress towards the targets

Any supporting agencies should report on the commitments they made

Appendix H – Prior to review meeting

Staff, parents/carers and other professionals may make adjustments to their

commitments if necessary The targets set for the pupil should stay the same for the entire 16 week period If the pupil has already met the target consistently, then they will need to consolidate their success over the second eight week period

Focusing on solutions remains paramount, if the current provision does not meet the pupil’s needs, further measures should be identified at the review to help them sustain their school place

Appendix I – PSP Review

The 16 week review

All of the commitments agreed at the previous meeting should be reviewed

School staff should share reports about the pupil’s progress towards their targets

The PSP is evaluated and judged to have either been successful or unsuccessful

If the PSP is not successful

 If the PSP is at risk of not being successful, alternatives should be discussed at the eight review meeting

 The PSP coordinator will need to contact parents/carers to discuss options if the school feels that the plan is failing between review periods

 If, after 16 weeks, the PSP has not managed to remove the risk to disaffection or exclusion then the school may decide to end the additional support agreed at the initial meeting

 Occasionally, pupils manage to make changes to their behaviour after a PSP has finished and has deemed to be unsuccessful

 If the pupil does not manage to change their behaviour then the headteacher may ask the Inclusion Adviser for advice on alternatives

Information on the following is available on the Schoolsnet:

 Managed Move Protocols

 CiC protocol

The Inclusion Advisers can be contacted at Shire Hall, Gloucester on 01452 427800

Appendix A

Appendix B

Pastoral Support Plan

Prior to Initial meeting

Please tick in one

box only for each

category



Overall poor Overall

satisfactory Overall good

Appendix C

Pupil’s thoughts about school

Name:

Date:

The things I like best at school are:

The things I am good at or interest me are:

The people I like best at school are:

The things about school I don’t like

are:

The things about school I find difficult are:

I think school would be better for me if:

At school I would also like:

GOALS OF BEHAVIOUR CHECKLIST Pupil DOB Staff

member

Date Completed Please note below any known issues for this pupil that may

be impacting on their behaviour in school:

For each of the following behaviours rate the frequency for the pupil

0 = Very rarely or never 1 = Occasionally 2 = Regularly 3 = Very often

Health – emotional or physical

Acts like the class clown Refuses to comply with simple requests Distracts others from learning Answers back /tries to have the last word Fails to comply with class rules Swears at staff in front of a group Interferes with others’ learning Refuses to speak to adults when reprimanded Loss – bereavement or separation

Puts hand up to ask unnecessary questions Leaves the class /school without permission Requests toilet break during lessons Climbs a tree/ onto the school roof and refuses to

come down Pushes and/or touches others while lining up Refuses to listen to reprimand/ walks away Whistles/hums during lessons Picks on other pupils

Safety – personal Hitting / kicking / punching others Avoids starting learning tasks

Refuses to make amends or apologise Appears excessively tired Apparently unprovoked verbal attacks on other

pupils Complains about the difficulty of even simple tasks Tries to "get even" with someone for perceived or

Identified Special Educational Needs

Appears to lack remorse Gives up easily Damages school property Is overly self-critical ‘I’m no good’

Appendix D